Disaster Relief is a ministry-based approach to impacting people for the Kingdom of God. Our motto of Serving Christ in Crisis has two implications:

We serve Christ to those persons who are victims of disaster.

When we minister to persons in need, we are serving Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40).

The goal of Disaster Relief is to provide some measure of normalcy for the victims of a disaster event.

PLANNING:

We offer two opportunities for planning for disaster response:

Individuals who want to serve as credentialed Disaster Relief volunteers need to attend a Disaster Relief Orientation event. Click the Training tab above for a list of current training events.

Churches who want basic information on how to minister during the time of a disaster can host a seminar on Family and Church Preparation. For more information please contact us…

OPPORTUNITIES:Disasters provide many opportunities for believers to be the “hands and feet of Jesus”. Many people have a natural and emotional desire to help other people when tragedy strikes. In order to be the most effective, here are some thoughts to keep in mind:

Attend one of our scheduled Disaster Relief Orientation events. Click the Training tab above for a current listing.

Find out where and how we are responding by clicking the Updates tab above.

The best response is Prayer and Financial Support. Please refrain from collecting unsolicited items and please do not self deploy.

CURRENT RESPONSES: None at this time.

2017 DEPLOYMENT RESULTS – YTD

360 Gospel Presentations

32PROFESSIONS OF FAITH

2,373 Volunteer Days

20,302 Meals Prepared

443 Assessments

107 Mudout/Tearout Jobs Completed

– Pressure Washes

– Mold Remediations

217 Chainsaw Jobs Completed

– Tear Outs/Repair Jobs

107 Roofs Tarped

33 Children Cared For

– Showers Completed

– Laundry Loads

– Communication Messages

1,373 Chaplaincy Contacts

74 Other Decisions

1,347 Ministry Contacts

2016 DEPLOYMENT RESULTS – YTD

278 Gospel Presentations

13PROFESSIONS OF FAITH

2,700 Volunteer Days

23,063 Meals Prepared

131 Assessments

133 Mudout Jobs Completed

16 Pressure Washes

56 Mold Remediations

235 Chainsaw Jobs Completed

11 Tear Outs/Repair Jobs

2 Roofs Tarped

– Children Cared For

– Showers Completed

– Laundry Loads

– Communication Messages

921 Chaplaincy Contacts

32 Other Decisions

1,152 Ministry Contacts

DISASTER RELIEF ORIENTATION (Required for All Volunteers)

At this credentialing session, you will receive an introduction to the overall ministry of Disaster Relief, 3 ministry areas (Child Care, Cleanup & Recovery, and Feeding), and Evangelism Encouragement. Once you become a credentialed Disaster Relief volunteer, recertification is required every 3 years.

NOTES:

If your Primary Unit assignment is Child Care, Cleanup & Recovery, or Feeding, Recertification can be accomplished at this training.

If your Primary Unit assignment is Chaplaincy or Communications (Unit 14C) and your credentials expired or are expiring this year, attending this training will update your credentials and cross train you as a Universal Yellow Hat.

Required every 3 years in to remain an active volunteer. This can be accomplished by attending any of the Disaster Relief Orientation trainings. Recertification will recertify you in all areas you are trained in. The recertification process is under review. Once the details are confirmed, they will be posted here.

CHAPLAINCY TRAINING:

2018 DATES COMING SOON!

Under our new training guidelines, the prerequisite for taking Chaplaincy training is completing Disaster Relief Orientation (becoming a Universal Yellow Hat) or having completed a Phase 1 training in any ministry area. (If you have attended Phase 1 Chaplaincy training, there is no need to complete this course.)

NOTE: Recertification CANNOT be accomplished at this training.

IMT/SUPPORT TRAINING:

The prerequisite for attending IMT/Support training is completion of Disaster Relief Orientation.

No trainings scheduled for the remainder of 2017. 2018 trainings coming soon!

ADVANCED DISASTER RELIEF TRAINING (ADRT):

This is a ministry area specific training, designed to explain the ministry in greater detail. This training helps to prepare the Disaster Relief volunteer to serve as a Team Leader or fulfill some special role. Recertification CANNOT be accomplished at this event. (NOTE: No walk-ins at this event please.)

Space is limited and registrations are processed on a first come/first serve basis. (Training Fees may vary. See registration form for details.)

2018 CHAINSAW SCHOOLS: Details coming soon!

Privacy and Refund Policy for Training Events:

Your information is held securely by the Fellowship One system. This information will remain private and will never be given away to third parties, other than to process your scheduled payments.

You can register and pay online for events by their registration deadline. Once a paid registration has been processed online, it cannot be cancelled online. If there are any problems or questions related to this, please contact the Disaster Relief office at 770-936-5254, pficarra@gabaptist.org, or Disaster Relief, 6405 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097.

ONGOING EFFORTS

If you would like to donate to the Georgia Baptist ministry of Disaster Relief, you can do so in the following ways:

To mail a donation, please make checks payable to Disaster Relief and mail to:

DOWNLOAD form and SAVE to your computer. ( Do not complete the form in your web browser as it may not print correctly.)

Complete each blank “blue” field. (Note: When finished, it is suggested that you SAVE the completed form to your computer. If you do not SAVE it, the information you entered will be lost when the form is closed.

DO NOT SIGN OR DATE ANY OF THE FORMS. THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE AT THE EVENT YOU ARE BRINGING IT TO.

Our church would love to be considered a drop off location for Buckets of Care. We are located at 1360 S. Rogers St., Pooler, GA 31322. If you need a secondary drop location, please consider us. Thanks!

Charity,
Thank you for this very kind offer. We are working with the North American Mission Board to transport buckets from Warner Robins to the affected areas. So we are limiting the “final” collection to one site. However, if you can collect buckets and then arrange transport to WR that would be a huge help for other churches in your part of the state!

S. Lang,
Will there still be a need for Buckets of Care after the Sept. 1st deadline at Warner Robbins drop-off? I would like to get our AWANAS kids involved in bringing in items/offering to help with this project. However, we will not be kicking off the new school year until Sept. Just let me know if this would be possible. Also, will y’all have a drop-off trailer at the GBC in Savannah, GA this Nov.?
Thanks, Sharon Ray, Pineview Baptist Church, Waycross, GA

Hey Sharon, great question! At this point, I’m only planning for this first push. If that changes I will certainly publicize the extension. As you can imagine, flood response has a great deal to do with timing. By collecting the buckets early, we have the opportunity to hopefully make a huge, quick impression about the same time our volunteers are rolling in. If we’re much after the September 1 date rolling out with the buckets, I fear we may lose some of the opportunity. That being said, you may have a great idea to collect in Savannah. Once our DR volunteers get there, we will know better what the need will be.

Thanks. Our church is just finishing a project for the homeless in ATL area(VBS project) & will be making that delivery next weekend to meet with Bro. Matt Stacey (Tapestry Church). I wasn’t sure how much response I would get if I promoted another project with such a short turn around. I told our church about this project morning. I have prayed & feel the need to move forward. I told them as many as feel lead to fill a bucket then that is what we will deliver by Sept. 1st. Thanks for all you do for Georgia Missions Board. Praying for you guys as you carry out this missions project. Sharon Ray

The last Phase 1 training for 2016 is scheduled for September 9-10, 2016, in Swainsboro, GA. The details for the 2017 Phase 1 trainings are being worked on. As soon as they are confirmed, the dates, locations, and online registrations will be available on the Training tab of our website – gbcdisasterrelief.org.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Looking forward to serving with you!

We would like to report that the elder ladies ladies of Central Baptist Church in Waycross sent several large bags of knitted prayer shawls, dolls blankets, afghans, caps and baby shirts to Georgetown, SC for the Chaplain Team I was The Lead for to distribute to the flood victims. The response was over wheling. The affected people were so great full for the compassion show by these gifts of love. JOAN and I visited Central Baptist today to give the ladies a thank you card and verbally convey the appreciation from the Georgetown folks. They were so over joyed at the response. One 87 year old lady is now planning to attend Training in Blackshear in January. visited

Thank you so much for the work you did up there. Those ladies are such a blessing in our church here at CBC, Thursday mornings are such a great time here seeing them work so hard to bless others with the talent god has given them. I was blessed to take that 87 year old woman with me to Jamaica on a mission trip and know that she will be an incredible blessing to those she comes alongside working with GBC Disaster Relief. Thank y’all so much for your work as you take the love of Christ to those suffering through tragedy.

I have been with Disaster Relief since the beginning (all the way back to Andrew). I can’t remember or count the trips those of us connected with Kilpatrick Baptist Disaster have made.
A few years ago I was treated for cancer and have not gone to “work”. I have taken the courseto become a Chaplain which I love. I hope to continue as I am just recovering from a knee replacement.

I love Disaster Relief. When I was on staff in TN I had the privilege of working in numerous countries including the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Out of concern for the folks in SC I looked first at our state convention web site. Something I saw grabbed my attention and I have to ask what happened.

2015 – 13 Gospel Presentations
2014 – 277 Gospel Presentations

2015 – 2 Professions of Faith
2014 – 72 Professions of Faith

REALLY ???????? Did we stop presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ for some reason ????????

That’s a great question, but incomplete. IF you look at the other numbers on the page you will notice our volunteer days are 1/10th that of last year. The number of jobs are also much lower due to the absence of disasters that we have responded to. We are most definitely sharing our faith and always will. These numbers only represent our activity during DR responses, and if we don’t have opportunities to respond, we don’t have numbers to share.
So please pray for the South Carolina flood response that we will be able to help people AND share the love of Jesus with them!

Really appreciate all the trainers and feeding crew who served Christ this weekend at the chainsaw school at Oakwood Baptist in Chickamauga GA. Great opportunity to get better prepared to Serve Christ in Crisis!

At this point in time, Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief is praying for our Southern Baptist partners, Baptist Global Response, as they assess the situation, determine needs, and establish a strategy. As plans develop, credentialed volunteers may be asked to respond. If you would like to make a donation to Relief efforts you may do so by sending a check to our office designated for Nepal Relief, or by donating directly to BGR through their website at http://www.gobgr.org.

Yes, there’s one more event that we call a Phase 1 training which will be held in Dalton, GA on September 12. Details about the event and information on how to register can be found at http://www.gbcdisasterrelief.org.

Yes, as long as you have been through Phase 1 sometime since January 2007. And there are 2 ways to do so. 1) Contact your Unit Director to see if he/she is planning a recertification event, or; 2) Register for our September training in Dalton. If you need more assistance you can visit our website at http://www.gbcdisasterrelief.org or contact our office at 770-936-5254.

On 10/10/2014 I attended chainsaw training. The instructor was Carl Langford. I have to say this was one of the most informative classes I have ever attended. Mr. Langford’s knowledge and presentation was outstanding. I have “used” a chainsaw for years, now I have the knowledge to operate one, thanks to Carl and Georgia Baptist Convention. God Bless

Hey Paula,
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to schedule another recertification in time for the SC deployment.Things are winding down pretty quickly for the immediate DR response. But rebuild efforts will continue for quite a while. Perhaps you and your church can get plugged in with those efforts.